Biden's Laptop: It's real, and it's spectacular
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NRO Comments:
Tristan Leavitt, an attorney for IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, believes the agency is retaliating against his client following a viral interview about the Biden case with veteran investigative journalist Catherine Herridge.
“Less than an hour after @C__Herridge posted this story yesterday about the retaliation against the IRS whistleblowers, the IRS sent SSA Shapley this notice telling him he had 15 days to choose whether to be demoted or to resign. (Apparently they were sitting on it for two weeks before the story.),” Leavitt said.
The IRS crafted a letter to Shapley on October 15 informing him that he will be reassigned from his supervisory special agent role in the criminal division to a senior analyst position. If Shapley does not report for his new assignment, he can either request a lower level special-agent position or leave the agency.
The U.S. office of special counsel is currently investigating alleged retaliation against Shapley and IRS whistleblower Joseph Ziegler. Leavitt said the OSC should intervene to prevent the apparent retaliation against Shapley and called for the agency to brief congress on the progress of its 17-month-long investigation.
Leavitt wrote a letter to congress Thursday laying out the alleged retaliation and lost professional opportunities Shapley has experienced since coming forward. Shapley’s attorneys have notified the OSC of the apparent actions taken against Shapley and are asking House Republicans to request a briefing on the situation.
“From the moment USA Weiss received access to SSA Shapley’s protected whistleblower disclosures and contacted IRS leadership, the IRS has treated SSA Shapley differently,” Leavitt wrote.
“Their illegal reprisal increased after SSA Shapley made clear he intended to blow the whistle to Congress and others. And it continues to this day, when the IRS knows it can retaliate against SSA Shapley simply by waiting out the clock for him to be forced into the position of resigning or being demoted.”
The Republican committee chairmen responded to Leavitt’s request with a letter this afternoon to acting principal deputy special counsel Karen Gorman asking her to request that the Merit Systems Protection board order a stay to hold up the IRS’s action against Shapley.
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IRS Backs Off Threat to Demote Hunter Biden Whistleblower amid Congressional Pressure
After presenting Hunter Biden whistleblower Gary Shapley with an ultimatum: resign or be demoted, the IRS has agreed to hold off on taking action against him following an intervention by Republican lawmakers.
The office of special counsel, the executive agency tasked with handling whistleblower cases, wrote a letter to House Republicans, obtained by National Review, informing them that the IRS will be staying its ultimatum to either demote Shapley or have him resign from the agency.
“Regarding the October 29, 2024 Notice of Intent, we can now report that IRS agreed to temporarily stay the whistleblower’s response deadline and tenure expiration. As appropriate and consistent with the law and OSC’s policies, we will use all tools within our statutory authority to address allegations these whistleblowers bring to our office,” wrote acting principal deputy special counsel Karen Gorman.
The letter was sent Wednesday to Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R., Ky,) Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R., Ohio), and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R.,Mo.), the leaders of the House GOP’s impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
“We’ve been informed the IRS has agreed to temporarily pause its latest threatening action against Gary Shapley. We won’t stop fighting for these brave whistleblowers, who exposed misconduct and politicization in the federal criminal investigation of Hunter Biden” the Oversight Committee wrote on X Wednesday night.
"Temporarily..."
